Jerusalem Municipal Workers on Strike; City Treasury Empty

Jerusalem’s city workers continued on strike today as the government considered emergency measures to end the walkout which was called because employees had not yet been paid for October.

The strike resulted from the fact that the city treasury is empty and the municipal administration has been unable to raise the funds necessary to keep all city functions operating. Although a Cabinet committee has been studying a number of plans for a municipal overhaul, the government is aware that no permanent improvement is possible without a large increase in the city’s income.

The Ministerial committee which was appointed many months ago to deal with the Jerusalem crisis has under consideration a new system of electing municipal councillors, a plan for the replacement of an elected council with a commission appointed by several of the national Ministries and a plan which would combine appointed and elected councillors.